Eagle Byzantium

Then, all the soldiers who were going to the battle, holding weapons and various battle flags, with the tasseled flag of Constantine the Great as the core, passed through the New Golden Gate and arrived at St. John's Cathedral. At the foot of the mountain above the cathedral, the emperor was doing his best to build a brand new luxurious church, the Cathedral of the Holy Apostles.

In front of the construction site, there were rows of sedan chairs with gauze curtains, and all the noble ladies in Constantinople stood there. They responded to the call of the emperor and the empire and gave generous donations to the soldiers who were about to go to the battle. Everyone knows that the empire's finances are very difficult now, and the heavy taxes on the people are about to reach the critical point. Therefore, the nobles have to give back some of their taxes after levying heavy taxes. Therefore, before each army went out to fight, this temporary donation, or a disguised "rich tax", became a scene in the imperial capital.

Here, noble ladies and foreign merchants were not so stingy, because in this public occasion, they could spend money freely without being criticized by the church, and this was also the best time to accumulate reputation for the family.

Jewelry and silver were thrown like raindrops, and military servants and soldiers scrambled to grab them, but Gawain always walked in the center of the line, carrying his luggage and weapons. Seeing his master's appearance, his servant Phetias could only follow behind with a sad face, letting the silver coins roll around under his feet.

"Gawain, Gawain!" Standing in the crowd in front of the foundation of the Holy Apostles Cathedral, Eudoxia, who was dressed in gorgeous clothes, was waving silk at herself, and her brother, the commander of the Varangian Palace Guard, Agrafi, was also standing next to her, waving at Gawain and asking him to come over.

"Master, the lady in the palace robe is calling you. She must be in love with you!" This made the servant very excited, but then Gawain hit him on the forehead. He covered his head and groaned as he followed Gawain.

Eudoxia smiled brightly when she saw Gawain coming. Then she took out a scarlet half-worn cloak from the box behind the sedan chair. "Hey, sister, this is the royal reward I got." Yagfei was surprised when he saw this thing.

"You could still wear it then, but not now." Eudoxia teased her brother, and then she handed the cloak over, "Put it on, Gawain. I can't give you money, silk or jewelry like other noble ladies do. I think that would be an insult to you. You are a noble warrior, and you can't use the Greek way. So I give you this thing, a gift that truly represents friendship. Just now, I saw that you were the only one in the guards without a cloak outside the review field. They all received rewards from the emperor, but you didn't, so I asked my maid Belia to go to the house to get this one, hoping to protect you from the cold and boredom when you go out to fight. Yes, when you feel bored, touch this cloak and remember that there is a woman in the imperial capital who cares about you." Gawain felt that things were very unusual. Since he met Eudoxia, this beautiful woman has taken the initiative to climb over him, taking care of him and helping him everywhere. Did she really regard him as a spiritual lover? This seems to be a very normal thing in the medieval world, but...

But then Gawain was not allowed to think hard anymore, and other soldiers crowded over, because many of them were familiar with and admired Eudoxia, because she was the commander's sister, the wife of the captain of the archery guards, and a favorite of the emperor, and a generous and loving beautiful lady.

So Gawain could only tie the red cloak given to him on his chain mail neck, while Agafi next to him laughed and kept patting Gawain's shoulders to show his affection.

Suddenly, the great eunuch Nickdemia came over from the crowd and winked at Eudoxia, and as a result, Eudoxia immediately got off the sedan chair and stopped giving alms with her maid, and hurriedly knelt on the ground.

Then, Nicodemia stood aside with his hands down. The one who came over was the beautiful lady that Gawain saw yesterday, sitting on the second sedan chair in front of the palace gate, followed by two boys. When they saw these three people, the generals and soldiers all knelt down and said, "Greetings to the chief lady, Constantine Augustus, and Prince John, who are blessed by the Virgin Mary, the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit."

"Eudosia, I must warn you that after the emperor reviews the army, the prince and Augustus should be at the head of the alms team to receive the cheers and respects of the soldiers, not your family." The lady's fair face was as beautiful as peaches and plums, but as cold as ice.

Eudocia, Nicodemya and Yagfi had no objections to the chief lady and could only obey her. Then they rushed to kiss the clothes and boots of Constantine Augustus and Prince John. At this time, Gawain, who was standing next to him, saw that the fair-skinned, tall and handsome boy was Constantine. He was born to the previous emperor and had just been given the title of "Augustus" (Augustus). , Caesar and other noble names in ancient Rome gradually evolved into honorary titles in the Byzantine era of Eastern Rome and were bestowed on the emperor's relatives). And Constantine's mother is the proud and oppressive chief lady in front of her, named Malena. She is the adoptive mother of the current emperor Alexios and the wife of the previous three emperors-and then, several A soldier told Gawain that in fact When Alexios first ascended the throne, he also attempted to divorce Irene, who was from the Dukas family, and marry the beautiful and very young Marlena as his queen. He even got the favor of his biological mother, the regent. Support, but in Patriarch Masdar After Si's desperate and strong opposition, she gave up and could only accept Marlena as her adoptive mother. She took another path and took over the throne justifiably. Now, although Marlena gave up the inheritance of the empire to the dark-skinned The ugly child, Alai Prince John, the daughter of Xius and Irene, was still very powerful in the court, and in the name of "raising a grandson," she forcibly took Prince John to her palace, which was different from the son she had with the previous emperor. Constantine cultivated it personally.

The purpose is obvious. Even if Marlena can't let her biological Constantine ascend the throne, she still has to ask John, whom she raised, to ascend the throne. In short, she wants to keep her current position of "Deputy Queen Mother" forever and move towards a substantive The "Empress Dowager" advances. So now, the humble nouveau riche family to which Eudoxia belongs is randomly grabbing the limelight, which of course arouses this person's irritation.

Of course, Marlena's sharp edge is not so much directed at Eudocia, but rather directed at the bottomless "little bird Nicodeemia" behind her who has stood in the palace for decades without falling. of.

But the great eunuch just knelt there with a flattering and harmless smile on his face, and showed no sign of changing his color despite Marlena's scoldings - Gawain really admired him.